What follows is a very in-depth discussion of light and color that provides a rather complete foundation for artists, scientists, and engineers.
Color is a mysterious phenomenon. To get a grasp on color, we will examine:
The knowledge covered in this video is targeted for viewers who really want to know why things work the way they do, without any handwaving, or for those who are interested in a more technical career in the arts. For instance, the information covered is more suited to answer questions like "Why aren't my colors mixing how I expect," rather than "What color combinations look good."
Let's begin. To understand color, let's begin with this scenario to organize all of following discussions. Light is emitted and bounces around in the outside world. Some of it reaches our eyes, where it is converted into an electrical signal. Then, this signal is then processed by our brain which then results in the mental sensation that we understand as color.
We see that the investigation naturally decomposes into 3 distinct regions: the light outside, the eye, and the brain. Let's begin.